Prime Ministers Of Modern Nepal

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the incumbent Prime Minister of Nepal.

History of the Prime Minister of Nepal

The position of Prime Minister in Nepal first came into existence at the beginning of the Shah Dynasty's reign in the country. That dynasty eventually founded what became a modern day version of the country, the Kingdom of Nepal, which lasted from 1768 until 2008. They had Mul-Kajis who basically acted in the position that one would think of as a prime minister. In 1806 the king of Nepal Rana Bahadur Shah (1775-1806) created the position of Mukhtiyar to served as what we would think of as the prime minister. During the Rana Dynasty of the Kingdom of Nepal (1846-1951) that title of Mukhityar was change to prime minister and the position also took on the extra responsibility of being the Commander-in-Chief of Nepal and the Grand Master of the Royal Orders. The change in the name of the position came into effect towards the end of the Thapa/Pande era (1799-1846), when the Mukhtiyar Mathabar Singh Thapa (?-1845) was the first to title himself as Prime Minister. In 1959 Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala (1914-82) was the first elected prime minister in the country's history following the Revolution of 1951 and almost a decade of political turmoil in the country, which involved forming a constitution and the previous prime ministers before Koirala being appointed from outside the Rana royal family. This did not last long as King Mahendra of Nepal (1920-72) suspended the constitution, dissolved and imprisoned the government and imposed his rule the following year. It was not until 1990 that Nepal again had a democratic government when the country became a constitutional monarchy and the prime minister was once again elected by the people and not appointed by the king. In 2008 the monarchy of Nepal was abolished and the country became a the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.

Duties of the Prime Minister of Nepal

The prime minister of Nepal serves as the head of the executive branch of the country's government. The prime minister of Nepal is the one who manages the functioning of the government of Nepal, since in Nepal's system of government the role of the president is mostly a ceremonial position. The prime minister of Nepal is also is the one who appoints the attorney general of Nepal, while the heads of all of the other constitutional body positions are appointed by the President of the country after they get the recommendation of the country's constitutional council. The prime minister of Nepal is appointed by the country's parliament.

Notable Prime Ministers of Nepal

Surya Bahadur Thapa

Surya Bahadur Thapa, who lived from 1928 until 2015, was the prime minister of Nepal on five different occasions. During his two terms in office from December of 1963 until February of 1964 and from January of 1965 until April of 1969, his major accomplishment was abolishing the country's Land Birta System. He also worked to promote land reform, a women's right to vote and eradicating the practice of having a caste of untouchables. During his third term in office from May of 1979 until July of 1983, the Panchayat system of Nepal was upheld and political prisoners got amnesty. Thapa's fourth term from October of 1997 until April of 1998 was his first time as being elected as prime minister after the King asked him to form a coalition government to get elected since the previous two government suffered no-confidence votes and had been disbanded within a year. Shortly, after Thapa's government survived a no-confidence vote, which ended the crisis he conceded his job as prime minister to his coalition partner. In his last term as prime minister from June of 2003 until June of 2004, his government was offering special reservations of offices and quotas in government for women as well as ethnic minorities. His government did fail at negotiating peace talks during the Nepalese Civil War (1996-2006) which led Thapa to set up the Unified Command to combat terrorism and he secured a lot of military hardware for the country.

Girija Prasad Koirala

Girija Prasad Koirala, who was born in 1924 and died in 2010, was the prime minister of Nepal on four different occasions. He also served as the acting head of state of Nepal from January of 2007 until July of 2008. During his first term in office his government was able to legislate into law more liberalized education, media and health care in the country as well as constructing new universities and hospitals. During his second term as prime minister from April of 1998 until May of 1999, he took over the prime minister job from Surya Bahadur Thapa after he stepped down and headed a three party coalition. During his third stint as prime minister from March of 2000 until July of 2001, he became prime minister became Krishna Prasad Bhattarai stepped down from the job because Koirala led a group of other members of parliament that forced Bharrarai to resign. During this term Koirala was unable to get the military mobilized to engaged in the civil war, but his successor did. In his fourth and final term as prime minister from April of 2006 until August of 2008, he was selected as prime minister following the 2006 democracy movement in the country and the House of Representatives being reinstated. During this time as prime minister the army of Nepal was brought under civilian control, the Nepalese Civil War was ended and the King was stripped of his powers and eventually the monarchy was gotten rid of all together.

Pushpa Kamal Dahal

Pushpa Kamal Dahal is the current prime minister of Nepal, having also served as prime minister of the country during a previous term. During his first term as prime minister from August of 2008 until May of 2008, he was elected prime minister following the end of the Nepalese Civil War in which he led the Maoist-Center Communist Party of Nepal, which was one of the Maoist Communist Parties who had helped to launch and fight in the civil war. Dahal's party one easily in the 2008 elections that propelled him to become prime minister but his term ended abruptly after he resigned his job when he failed to sack the Nepalese Chief of the Army Staff Rookmangud Katawal after the President Ram Baran Yaday opposed the sacking. Following his resignation the Maoist-Center Communist Party under-performed in the next election and he lost his election for a seat in the Constituent Assembly in 2013, although he did manage to win a different seat. On August 4th of this year, Dahal was elected prime minister for a second time after the coalition government that was formed nominated him to be the prime minister.